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  • AbbVie kicks off JPM26 with a $5.6B deal & Novartis bets $1.7B brain-shuttle tech

AbbVie kicks off JPM26 with a $5.6B deal & Novartis bets $1.7B brain-shuttle tech

AuthorAuthor

Joachim Eeckhout & Eduardo Longoria
January 13, 2026

 

Good morning! Eli Lilly and Nvidia are turning their AI partnership into a physical presence: a new Bay Area co-innovation lab backed by more than $1B over five years. Announced at the JPM Healthcare Conference, the lab will fuse Lilly’s wet-lab R&D and data generation with Nvidia’s compute, foundation models and robotics stack. 

The context: The lab builds on the pair’s “AI factory” supercomputer effort and Nvidia’s BioNeMo platform, its open suite of foundation models, datasets and tools designed specifically for biology and drug discovery.

Bottom line: When two of the world’s most valuable companies decide AI drug discovery needs its own building, a billion-dollar investment is no big deal.

Enjoy today’s read!

—Joachim E.

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SNAPSHOT

AbbVie kicks off a $5.6B oncology deal with China’s RemeGen at JPM26

 

AbbVie and RemeGen kicked off the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference with a $5.6B licensing deal for RemeGen’s RC148, a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody targeting cancer as a means of expanding AbbVie’s solid tumor portfolio amid intensifying competition.

Why it matters: This deal signals growing Western pharma investment in Chinese biotech and increasing focus on combination immunotherapies that could overcome tumor resistance.

Backstory: RC148 is in clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer, as both a standalone and in combination with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). AbbVie will pay $650M upfront, with up to $4.95B in milestones. RemeGen keeps rights in Greater China.

Big picture: Global interest in PD-1/VEGF bispecifics is accelerating, with big pharma viewing Chinese innovations as pivotal in the next wave of cancer treatments. These therapies are designed to amplify immune response and enhance the tumor-killing potential of ADCs.

Zoom in: RC148 combines checkpoint inhibition (PD-1) and anti-angiogenesis (VEGF). Other major deals with similar drugs include MSD’s $3.28B pact with LaNova, Pfizer’s $1.25B buy-in with 3SBio, and Akeso’s $5B investment in Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab.

What’s next: As AbbVie begins development, attention turns to FDA filings for other PD-1/VEGF bispecifics like ivonescimab, potentially the first to hit the US market.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

👀 Lilly lurking: Eli Lilly is reportedly exploring a €15 billion ($17.5 billion) acquisition of French biotech Abivax, boosting Abivax’s share price by 17.5%. While Lilly declined to comment and Abivax has not responded, the speculation centers on Abivax’s lead drug candidate, obefazimod, an oral anti-inflammatory therapy that has shown positive Phase III results in treating ulcerative colitis and is in Phase II trials for Crohn’s disease. With a market cap of €8.4 billion, Abivax positions obefazimod as a potential market leader, and forecasts suggest it could generate $1.8 billion in global sales by 2031.

 📈 IPO incoming: Eikon Therapeutics, a biotech startup led by former Merck executives and backed by over $1 billion in private funding since 2019, has announced plans to go public. The company is developing treatments for cancer and neurological diseases, with four drug candidates in clinical trials. Its lead asset, EIK1001, licensed from Seven and Eight Biopharmaceuticals, targets toll-like receptors and is in Phase 2/3 trials for melanoma and lung cancer. Eikon also acquired two PARP inhibitors from Impact Therapeutics and is advancing internally discovered cancer therapies. The IPO comes as biotech markets show signs of recovery, with expectations that 2026 may mark a rebound year for public offerings.

🐇 JAK rabbit: Lynk Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from a Phase 3 trial in China for its JAK1 inhibitor, zemprocitinib (LNK01001), in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. The drug met its primary endpoint, with 79.1% of patients achieving ACR20 responses at 24 weeks compared to 39.7% on placebo, along with significant improvements in other disease severity measures. Designed for improved safety over existing JAK inhibitors like AbbVie’s Rinvoq, zemprocitinib showed no new safety signals and a favorable adverse event profile. While it faces stiff competition, Lynk plans regulatory filings in atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis in 2026, with Simcere holding China commercialization rights.

🎨 Vitiligo bet: Teva Pharmaceuticals has secured up to $500 million in funding from Royalty Pharma to advance TEV-‘408, an anti-IL-15 antibody being developed for vitiligo. The deal provides an initial $75 million to support a Phase 2b trial in 2026, with the option for an additional $425 million pending positive results to fund Phase 3 development. TEV-‘408, which may also treat other autoimmune diseases, aims to prevent the immune-mediated destruction of melanocytes in vitiligo. If successful, Teva will owe milestone payments and royalties to Royalty Pharma. The agreement aligns with Teva’s strategy to accelerate its innovative pipeline amid limited treatment options for vitiligo.

🌱 Seed surge: Arkin Capital has closed its third early-stage biotech fund, Arkin Bio Ventures III, raising $100 million to invest in 10–12 preclinical and early clinical-stage biotech companies globally. The fund will target high-potential assets in oncology, immunology, inflammation, rare diseases, and related areas. Arkin plans to focus on companies with strong biological rationale and a clear path to clinical proof of concept.

SNAP AGAIN

Novartis bets $1.7B on SciNeuro’s brain-shuttle tech to combat Alzheimer’s

 

Why it matters: Crossing the blood-brain barrier remains a major challenge in treating neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s. This partnership aims to advance next-gen therapies that reach the brain more effectively.

Backstory: SciNeuro’s antibody is designed to shuttle therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier. Novartis will initially co-develop the program before taking it forward independently.

Zoom in: The licensed program targets amyloid beta, a key Alzheimer’s disease protein. Novartis also has a separate option deal with Sironax for similar BBB-crossing tech.

Big picture: This move reinforces Novartis’ focus on neuroscience, one of its four key therapeutic areas, which has been gaining momentum lately with multiple partnerships in 2025–2026. This strategy follows the broader industry trend of investing in innovative brain delivery technologies, as seen in Roche’s deal with Manifold Bio 2 months ago for a brain shuttle bispecific 2+1 amyloid-beta-targeting monoclonal antibody.

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